The question I get asked most is, why owls? Even though it seems like a random bird to be interested, owls have always been a fascination of mine, but I didn't really know or acknowledge that it was a "thing". Throughout the years I have collected small owl artifacts like an owl wallet, a small wooden owl carving and an owl necklace. I also have always loved the Greek Myths revolving around owls with Athena. At Pave' Fine Jewelry, I was always the one people went to for questions pertaining to Greek mythology and the ancient coins that were sold there.

After starting DreamID Graphics and spending A LOT of time on the social medias, I realized that other people had this same connection to owls and I started following numerous owl conservation organizations, owl photographers, artists and communities. Soon my Facebook feed was filled with owls!! It was then I realized this was a "thing" not only for myself, but for a great many people.

Then one day, Bryan and I were on a plane and I thought, "Wouldn't it be great to have a magazine dedicated to owls so I could read it on planes?" I expressed this new thought to Bryan and he said, well, why don't you just make one since you have all the software?. I thought Nah, that's crazy. Then I though, yeah, I totally should do that.

I have just joined Thumbtack, a website dedicated to searching for professionals in all sorts of areas. It came recommended to me by Gina Hutchings, the CEO of Lunar Media here in Chicago and the person that I am working for. She says it has really helped her find work, and since there is so much work out there, Thumbtack makes it easier to narrow what people are looking for in a designer.

It's no secret that logos are a big part of our everyday lives. David Airey, the Irish Graphic Designer, states in his book, Logo Desing Love, that we see logos and branding as soon as we wake up in the morning. Most of us turn on our phone, or shut off the alarm coming from it, and instantly we see the icons on the interface. Yahoo! News, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest all express their brands right when you wake up.

In essence, logos are just symbols, symbols that express what your company wants to create as it's image, and I truly enjoy helping businesses achieve that goal.

I have been thinking about the topic a lot lately, since it seems like something kind of weird to love. I mean, everyone loves merch really, but I really love it. So much in fact, that I have this business in order to help people make their own merch. At DreamID we make logos and business cards; but what do you essentially DO with a logo? You create merch out of it. You create T-shirts, keychains, drives, postcards...you know, stuff with your name on it. It's literally, make your own merch.

So why do we love things with our name on it? Why do we have such a need to brand ourselves? Is it really important?

I think in this day and age where there is so much branding for big companies and so little recognition for the little guy, it's a survival instinct. I don't want to get crushed by big corporations, with their symbols, and huge billboards. I'm a person, too damned it!

Small businesses, and people, need to feel like they have a voice too. Merch helps us feel like we belong, even if it's with our own name and logo on it. I love merch because it allows me to feel like a part of wherever I am-not so much like a separate entity, which is what tends to happen. Whether it's getting that concert T-shirt, or that conference welcome bag- I feel like merch brings us all together.

I just created the perfect combination of jewelry and corporate identity! If you were not already aware, I am also the founder at Wire Whirled handmade jewelry on easy. www.etsy.com/shop/WireWhirled..where we make custom and ready-to-wear jewelry.

I just 'whirled' (my personal term for wire wrapping) a rose gold fill bracelet that spells out DreamIDgraphics. Pretty hilarious! It's a little awkward to wear while typing, but it definitely makes a statement.

I most recently had the great pleasure to be invited to Newfoundland. This was particularly exciting to me since throughout most of my childhood and young adult years, I always loved novels situated in this sort of fishing town area. Sparsely populated, small town, very little association with the outside world was really intriguing to me.

Flying over the Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland area was so unusual. Usually, when flying over land one sees signs of life; lights, moving vehicles, highway and street systems, but none of these were visible. Mainly because there weren't any! It was small dark island after small dark island, hiding within the rivers and fjords of Eastern Canada. It was wild!

Our friends there were, of course, lovely and took us on mini-hikes across the inlets and shores of St. John's, where icebergs played along the coast and lighthouses winked across the sky. The plummeting cliffs and rocky climbs, ocean breezes, fresh air proved that my imagination of the small fishing town was indeed correct.

And the icebergs! The icebergs, who swam down from Greenland in a mere three years were towering over us in the little viewing boat out on the water. They are huge, massive ice castles, creaking and moaning from the weight of themselves and the above freezing summer sun. The most beautiful color turquoise lines the giants- the freshest water in the world- and falls cascading whenever a huge chunk breaks off. We were fortunate to see a piece break off one of the icebergs and the whole area around it was littered with little mini bergs, floating in the water. Some people even picked it up out of the water to take home a piece.

Some of my pictures of this trip are in the Lifestyle/Travel section of this page. Please let me know if you enjoy them!